Washoe judge refuses to dismiss rape suit against Ben Roethlisberger

Oct. 22, 2009

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A Washoe District judge on Thursday denied a request by Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s lawyer to sanction the attorney representing a woman who sued the Super Bowl star, claiming he raped her at a Lake Tahoe hotel last year.

Judge Brent Adams said that Andrea McNulty’s lawyer, Cal Dunlap, “met the minimal standards required” to avoid such a punishment. He also has denied motions to dismiss the case.

Dunlap said he was “not surprised by that the court ruled in our favor,” but he declined to elaborate.

Reothlisberger’s lawyer, David Cornwell, said the judge’s order “suggests that the court is giving Ms. McNulty the benefit of the doubt at a stage in the proceedings where a full examination of her contemporaneous statements and conduct is premature.”

McNulty, an employee at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe, filed a civil lawsuit against Roethlisberger in July claiming he lured her to his room while in town for a celebrity golf tournament and forced her to have sex.

She also sued a list of Harrah’s managers, claiming they conspired to cover it up.In response, Roethlisberger’s lawyers filed motions with affidavits from some Harrah’s employees who knew McNulty saying she was infatuated with Roethlisberger, and bragging about having been sexually involved with him.

In his motion for sanctions, Cornwell said Dunlap had filed a “baseless suit” designed to harass and extort money from Roethlisberger. He said Dunlap should be punished for failing to properly research the case before filing the complaint.Adams disagreed. He said the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which are designed to keep lawyers in check during civil proceedings, allow for sanctions when a lawyer files a suit “without the performance of a reasonable inquiry as to the factual contentions made therein.”